Final Four By The Numbers

While the NCAA’s partnership with CBS and Turner was hugely successful for the early rounds, the NCAA couldn’t have been too pleased with their analysts’ honesty during Monday’s Championship game. In the first half, Clark Kellogg said the game showcased “unparalleled ineptitude” and was like watching paint dry to which Jim Nantz retorted, “That’s an insult to paint.”

The halftime crew piled on with Greg Anthony calling it “the worst half of basketball I’ve ever seen in a national championship game.” Seth Davis surmised the two teams were competing to see which team could play worse and that it’s a “very bad showcase for a national championship game for college basketball.” Charles Barkley was more succinct by simply saying it was “an awful half of college basketball.”

If you look at the Final Four “By The Numbers” below, you have to agree with their assessment that there weren’t many shining moments on Monday.

-17%: Overnight ratings drop from 2010 Championship game between Butler and Duke and 2011 contest between Butler and UConn.

.1875: Butler’s field goal percentage which prompted ESPN’s Chris Fowler to tweet “Let’s not confuse horrendous shooting with great D” in response to both teams’ shots clanging off the rim.
$5: The lowest sale price for a Championship game ticket according to StubHub with hundreds more tickets selling for under $40.

9: UConn’s rank in the 16 team Big East (where it also had a 9-9 record) which can either be used to illustrate how deep the conference is or how the Final Four rewards the hot team over the regular season performer.

62%: The winning percentage of the four teams in this year’s Final Four.

300: The number of University of Houston and Rice students who saw the Final Four for free because UConn could only sell 500 of the 800 $25 student tickets they were allotted. While this article questions their support, it is valid to say hotels and airfare on a week’s notice would make this trip very expensive for a student.

$500,000: The dollar amount Butler will receive for making it into the Championship game according to InsideINdianaBusiness.com Report. While they will share in additional disbursements from the Horizon League as there is a revenue share like post-season college football, it begs the question will their earnings of $100,000 per win exceed their expenses.

$2.75 million: The amount Nike received in media value from their logo appearing on the Butler and UConn uniforms on Monday according to research conducted by Joyce Julius & Associates.

In response to the rough on-the court performance, I have seen media pundits suggest everything from reducing the field to changing the championship to a “Best of 3” format.

Such knee jerk reactions are not warranted as the tournament always delivers three weeks of must-see TV action. And while this year’s Championship game ended with a whimper instead of a bang that was not the case last year when Butler rimmed out a half court game winner at the buzzer or when Kansas won in overtime in 2008 at the Alamodome.

The NCAA Final Four will undoubtedly bounce back next year with a more competitive finish between higher ranked teams. You just have to wonder if the same announcing crew will also be in New Orleans.